808s & Otherworlds: Memories, Remixes, & Mythologies

by Sean Avery Medlin

"September’s Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Literature" ―Lambda Literary
"Most-Anticipated New LGBTQIA+ Books of 2021" ―Paperback Paris "An elegant mash of memoir, poetry, tales of appropriation, thoughts on Black masculinity, Hulk, Kanye." ―Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune 808s & Otherworlds announces a bold and incendiary new voice in Sean Avery Medlin. Against the backdrop of the Phoenix suburbs where they were raised, Medlin interrogates the effects of media misrepresentation on the performance of Black masculinity. Through storytelling rhymes and vulnerable narratives in conversation with both contemporary Hip-Hop culture and systemic anti-Blackness, 808s & Otherworlds pieces together a speculative reality where Blackfolk are simultaneously superhuman and dehumanized. From the gut-wrenchingly real stories of young lovers unmythed by segregation or former classmates appropriating Black culture, to the fantastic settings of Hip-Hop songs and comic characters, Medlin weaves a tapestry of worlds and otherworlds while composing a love letter to family and self, told to an undeniably energetic beat.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Nonfiction, Queer, Queer Lit, Memoir, Music

110 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2021

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

808s & Otherworlds is a brief, unique, excellent poetry collection. Many of Medlin’s works reflect growing up in Litchfield Park, AZ, which was an extra treat. The immediacy of his perspective is important, and all his nerdy references make reading his poetry even more engaging!

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like poetry, but i rarely feel like I understand poetry. The collection was well done and enjoyable but I didn’t get all of it

[Alex Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of this reads like music, even the paragraphs. Took me a while to read because it usually takes me time to digest poetry, but this book in particular kept pushing me to play some music instead of reading. You could finish this in a day or a year and I think you’d still get a lot from it.

[Talima Flores-Allah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic trip. One I will take over n over again

[Sharon Velez Diodonet · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You cannot borrow my color.
I am not a commodity. I am not a part song, cuss word or caged bird. I belong to no one. I name myself...wear myself. You sell me to make your money. You say I'm free, but you still owe me."

I loved everything about this collection of poems, remixes and meditations. It was raw, honest and contemplative. There were parts that kicked me in the chest and made me pay attention. There were so many times I stopped to reread certain parts because the thoughts were so deep. The format of the book gave it a nice flow.

The writing was the stand out for me. It was lyrical, speculative at times and magical. I really really related to Medlin's nerdy gamer, hip hop loving vibes. The author tackles themes through hip hop and media narratives. They explore:

🎧 Black masculinity and mental health
🎧 the commodification of Black culture and bodies
🎧 the misuse of hip hop by corporations to perpetuate narratives about Black culture
🎧 the concept of gender and roles
🎧 the trappings of idol worship and aspirations to perceived ideas of celebrity and status
🎧 what freedom looks and feels like when you question the staus quo
🎧 the diversity of Blackness
🎧 the importance of telling our own stories

The author's dissections of Kanye West songs and analysis of his persona were my favorites. They were insightful and really put words to what many have been thinking for a long time. If you are a nerdy, hip lover, then this book is for you.
THIS HITS HARD! Medlin's words will continue to be bouncing around in my head.

Thanks to @twodollarradio for this gifted copy.

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[Colin Asher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sean Avery Medlin’s 808s and Otherworlds is unabashedly itself. A mix of poetry, prose and song, memoir, jeremiad and cultural critique – it blends and contorts genre and form whimsically, while simultaneously, its author confesses their insecurities and interrogates the gospels of gender and race and the performance of each. Like the best debuts, the book leaves the impression that the author has said enough but that they still have quite a bit left to say and promise yet to fulfill.

[Oliver Crook · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I read all year: A beautiful, moving trip into Medlin's mind and soul and I can't wait to explore it again. Full review here:

https://atwoodmagazine.com/brsam-sean...

[Tamillia Valenzuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything from Sean is guaranteed to be celestial. A true alchemist of words, master of their craft, definite must have!

[Juliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

“with no sources to foresee my future / i leave the skin i shed in the corner / change my pronouns / and dance”. In Sean Avery Medlin’s experimental poetry collection 808s and Other Worlds: Memories, Remixes, & Mythologies, the personal and political collide through lenses like hip-hop and pop culture. Medlin’s work, deeply and wonderfully entrenched in other people’s — such as the ‘in amerika’ series, which refers to the music of Erykah Badu, or the niche ‘Mr. Popo (Erasure)’, which uses a Dragon Ball Wiki page to comment on race and perception — is polyphonic and unabashed, reckoning with the self, with homophobia/queerphobia in hip-hop, even with the troubled legacy of Kanye West (pre-2022) for people who saw themselves in West’s work but couldn’t reconcile increasing far-right alliances and conservatism. Medlin has a knack for pockets of gorgeousness amongst the irreverence: “histories that bring sweet joy and suffering sharp enough for swords”, “i love you & love is maddening / here i celebrate you & cannot / give blind / unfit praise”, “if this is my last life in flesh / i’m honored to consult your deck”, “I’m Aphrodite’s child; my romances are wild.” They also know when and how to be biting: “my body be the finances of empire”. In poems like ‘Hidden Cloud Remixed’, ‘Paradox’, ‘In Our Dreams’ and ‘Debt’, they excel so clearly. Their collection concludes with a short series of excerpts from their album, ‘skinnyblk’, which further reinforces Medlin’s lyrical skill.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

This is a fantastic and eclectic collection from a poet/writer that I'll definitely be keeping my eye on. 

I really enjoyed the variety in this collection that should satisfy any kind of reader — verse/rhymes, some long-form prose poems and essays, and even lyrics from skinnyblk, their hip-hop play and album, which I'm absolutely going to check out. Some pieces are very intimate while others are broader, but together create a very moving portrait of all the facets of Medlin's life and identity. The focus on music call-backs and samplings reminded me a lot of Hanif Abdurraqib's early work —which is high praise as he's one of my all-time favorite writers (and blurbed this book!) — so if Abdurraqib's work is up your alley, Medlin's certainly will be. And what I love about both these poets is that you can still really immerse yourself in their works even if you don't catch every single reference or aren't familiar with every artist they are referencing.

Two Dollar Radio is one of the most interesting indie publishers working today, and they have yet to steer me wrong with any of their books. I look forward to reading and seeing more from this very talented creator soon!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to get this collection of topical essays, poems/ song lyrics, and memoir fragments and reflections on growing up black in AZ during the rise of hip hop culture. But for me, it didn't go quite far enough-- there's a vague sort of through line, of the author coming of age and awareness, but it means a lot of the book, the first half or so, repeats some pretty bland and flat sentiments that might fully express the writer's consciousness at 12, but which lack some flexibility and depth.

Later sections of the book, which deal with questions about sexuality and gender presentation, are interesting but probably don't go far enough-- if it had started there and then went deeper and further, I think this could have been fascinating, and some of the stuff, about the Power Rangers, about Playboi Carti, etc, has real promise but I wanted it to push harder.

The play/ performance text at the end is promising. It makes the rest feel like the notes that led to this expression, but by itself, it's maybe not enough.

[paula. · Rating 2 out of 5]

oh man i don't know

there is a lot of good and beautiful and important stuff here. the rhythm of "money is temporary" some impressive talent; "free pt. II" is reflective, thoughtful, pained; "love poem" is emotional and tender; "nobody" is smart; and "what it's like to be a suburban black demiboy" is again thoughtful and emotional.

medlin is a talented writer, their way with words, their feel for sentences is impeccable. but this collection is questionable. the prose poems/essays (if they can be called that) don't flow as well as the lyric poems. "iggy & carti" is incredible but feels out of place here, is it a prose poem or is it an essay? how are we meant to read it? what's the intention? some poems would start powerful and then wane at the end, quickly losing their aim.

good stuff in here, but together it feels like an arbitrary forced publication (sorry)

2.5/5

[anne caywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

808s & Otherworlds cannot be described in just one word. It's poetic, it's compelling, it's provocative, it's otherworldly (pun intended). Medlin challenges us to consider both the unseen and what has been seen in front of our eyes all of our lives. It redefines Blackness in terms of gender, sexual, and racial identity and describes to us what it is to grow up black in a "new amerika." Every page had me glued, and there are so many tabs in my copy where I marked quotes that I loved or forced me to think.

This was a lovely read!

[Madyson P · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who grew up in the suburbs of phoenix, Medlin's poetic visuals of the desert heat and brutality are painfully accurate. Not to mention the way they use their own life experiences as a Blackboy as metaphors for larger colonial forces that poison the southwest, and amerika. As this empire is built on the bones of indigenous caretakers of earth, Medlin is like an ancient narrator, careful observer, and ultimately a channel for which their grief is passed down through.

[belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I accepted a performance of a performance as my truth”
I’m so glad I took a chance on the local section of my library because this was an incredible read! I loved Sean’s poetic, beautiful, and emotional writing, and I think listening to it on audio made it hit even harder. And how lovely—there was a mini musical at the end!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profound, powerful, cathartic. Definitely worth rereading. This was a library borrow and I plan to buy my own copy to make and keep notes! Lots of food for thought crammed into a small tome. Proof that there are beautiful desert flower minds like Sean from my home state. ❤️

[Ryan Diefenderfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to hear from an Arizonan and hear references to the valley 😎

[Samantha Grenier · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Concepts of gender and sexuality barely apply to humans and animals, let alone robots.”

[Lisa S · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[afrobookricua · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 💥💥💥💥

[Lee Call · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for book club and I was OBSESSED.
What a powerful voice.
Get the audiobook if you have a chance. Hearing the poetry performed in their own voice is unforgettable.

[sarah panic · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 / absolutely beautiful prose. lyrically astounding.

[Brittany E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend listening to the audio version of this collection. I loved it.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review on StoryGraph.

[Schulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books like this are why I keep picking up poetry books.

Sometimes they land so well.

[Areeb Ahmad (Bankrupt_Bookworm)]

This is not my cup of tea at all. Won't be continuing/finishing.

[Tatum · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite details is the use of capitulation throughout the author's poetry.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt fine. The best part was the rapping and music for the final act.

[Matt Feltman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sealey Challenge Book #11. Medlin's poems and prose poems should be required reading!